How do we mitigate the effects of man-made activity—in particular the production of CO2—on climate change?

That's a question that the Carbon War Room is tackling head on. What's the Carbon War Room? It is an organization founded and funded by Sir Richard Branson, the chairman of the Virgin Group, and several entrepreneurs to examine and implement market-driven solutions for creating a low-carbon economy.

We spoke with its Director of Operations, Peter Boyd. He describes the Carbon War Room as a combination "think tank, do-tank." By implementing existing technologies, says the Carbon War Room, shipping could have efficiency gains that would translate into an annual CO2 reduction of 250 million tons by 2020.